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How to be Assertive when Weddings go Wrong

No matter how many detailed to-do lists you’ve made, or long discussions you have had with your wedding vendors, there is still always the chance that something will not go to plan which is why you need to have the best wedding planner Essex or your local area. If something does go wrong, however, it is your right as the bride (and as the one who is paying for these services!) to demand compensation and better results! Here are some hints to give you confidence in fighting for the services you paid for and the results that you want.

One: Put Everything in Writing

No matter what it is – the kind of cake you want, the price you’ve agreed to play for flowers, or the measurements for your wedding dress – make sure that you write down every agreement you make while planning for this wedding. If possible, have the notes written on company letterhead for each contractor you deal with, or have them sign it. While this seems silly, it guarantees that you will have signed proof of what you ordered if something goes wrong.

Two: Ask Vendors how they’ve Dealt with Issues in the Past

When interviewing vendors for your wedding, make sure to ask them about their past experiences – remember that you are hiring them for a significant amount of money, so you are allowed to vet them as thoroughly as if you were hiring them for your company! Ask about their cancellation policies, their past responses to worst-case scenarios, and how compensation works if something doesn’t go as planned. If you have these answers ahead of time, you will know exactly how to approach resolving any problems that happen at your wedding.

Three: Be Specific in Your Requests

Everyone is going to have an opinion for you when you are planning your wedding. From the colour of the flowers to the flavour of your cake, everyone is going to want to give you their personal opinion. Don’t let yourself be easily swayed from the choices that you have already made! When you meet with a vendor, be sure to explain in detail what it is that you want, especially if your choices are different from current trends. Don’t leave any room for the vendor to misinterpret your directions – a little bit of assertiveness now will save you a lot of complications later if things don’t go as planned!

Four: Don’t Withhold Payment

This is important – if things go catastrophically wrong, and you want your vendor to fix the problem you cannot threaten to withhold their payment. This will not encourage them to help you – it will just make them angry! Instead, politely but assertively work together to try and find a solution to the problem at hand – this may be a discount, or it may be a complete re-do of the product or a rush job on alterations. Even if your product isn’t as perfect as you imagined it, the vendor still did put time and effort into it and do deserve payment – if they are good business people, they will recognize where they went wrong and will do everything possible to make it right.

What is your Ideal Wedding Venue?

Your wedding venue has one of the biggest impacts on your wedding out of any of the decisions you’ll make. After all, when choosing a venue you are also making important choices about the number of guests you want, how formal you want your ceremony and/or reception to feel, and you are spending a large portion of your budget! The wedding venue is also one of the first things that you should book after becoming engaged – popular venues book up fast, and it can be hard to get quotes on other services when you don’t know where you will be set up! Here are five important questions to ask yourself when considering what kind of venue is best suited to your special day.

How many Guests are we planning to invite?

This question is key! If you have always dreamed of getting married in a ballroom, but only want to invite close friends and family, you probably need to adjust your expectations. The number of guests you want to invite will influence the cost of your venue, and can help to immediately narrow down your choices. Sit down with your fiancé and discuss approximate numbers as soon as possible.

How many venues are we going to use?

This is another important question to ask yourself with regards to budget. If you want a religious ceremony, you may wish to have the ceremony portion of your wedding in a house of worship while having the reception elsewhere. Other brides-to-be may choose to have both the ceremony (religious or secular) and the reception in the same location. This decision is an important one – using only a single venue will need to be able to serve multiple purposes (making it potentially more difficult to track down), but this choice could also save you a considerable amount in the budget!

Where is the best place for our wedding?

Unlike the days of the past where everyone married someone from the same geographical area as them, today’s couples are often getting married in cities where one (or both!) sides of the family will have to travel to. It is worth considering if moving your wedding to a different city is worth some added hassle if it means that more family and friends will be able to attend. This may also affect prices, as some areas are much more pricey than others!

How formal is our wedding going to be?

This question has to be taken under serious consideration as well. If you and your fiancé are very relaxed, and were just planning on having a backyard barbecue as a reception, finding a venue may be as easy as calling up your uncle! On the other hand, if you are picturing a masquerade ball as your dream reception you are going to need to budget a little more to find a space that facilitates this!

Now that you’ve asked yourself these four big questions to identify what you need from your venue, you can move on to having discussions with the building managers and getting the specifics – much like finding the right dress, when you find the right venue, you will know!

5 Substitutes for the Classic White Wedding Cake

The moment you think of wedding cake, what probably comes instantly to mind is the dry, crumbly white cake that seems to have been present at receptions since time began. Instead of following this tradition, consider some of the other options out there – cakes and desserts that are guaranteed to keep guests talking about your wedding ‘cake’ for years to come.

High-quality Cake

Maybe you don’t generally go for classic cake flavours, but cheesecake makes your mouth water any time of day. If you really want your cake to stand out, work with your fiancé to choose your absolute favourite flavour. Then, find a bakery nearby who can recreate that taste – probably for a lower cost than a wedding cake!

Cupcake Tree

If you want to make sure that all of your guests will get a slice of cake without having to worry about cutting the right number of slices, cupcakes might be a perfect solution! Cupcakes are easy to display in interesting ways, don’t require that people are seated to enjoy them, and everyone is guaranteed the perfect amount of icing! As a bonus, cupcakes can be arranged on a standard cake stand – keeping your decor classic, even if your cake isn’t!

Dessert Bar

This is easily one of the most fun options – just because it’s a wedding, there’s no reason to limit the dessert to just cake! Have a selection of desserts on hand – think brownies and cookies and pies – so that your guests can choose their favourite desserts. Remember if you go with this option to have more available than you think you will need – in a buffet situation like this, guests are guaranteed to go back for more than a single helping!

Ice Cream Bar

Ice Cream bars can be a little extra work, but are guaranteed to be a hit with guests! Bring in some high quality ice cream in large tubs, and set out bowls of different toppings (including favourites like candy, fruit, and chocolate) and sauces. Let your guests go crazy! This is one wedding dessert that is sure to be a favourite for all ages, without breaking the bank!

Mini-Desserts

Having mini-desserts at your wedding will get you points not just for taste, but also for decor – after all, “mini”-sized anything is guaranteed to be adorable! Think about having mini-puddings in tiny mason jars, extra-tiny cupcakes, truffles on a stick, mini-cheesecakes, or macarons. Guests will love the chance to sample all kinds of their favourite desserts without having to worry about eating a full serving of each.

The best part about all of these options is that choosing to use one of them at your reception doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t have a cake cutting moment at your reception. Many bakeries will be able to make a “top tier” classic wedding cake for you, which you can cut at your reception before fully enjoying the other dessert you have chosen.

Want ideas for a creative wedding theme?

Are you hoping to have a wedding that “pops”? One that has a theme so fantastic that no one will be able to stop talking about it for the rest of the wedding season? Of course you are! Here we have listed some of the most creative wedding themes we have seen, and offer a few suggestions for making them work on your big day.

Fairytale

What could be more romantic than images of a prince rescuing his princess from a dragon-guarded castle? Whatever your favourite fairytale may be, there are ways to evoke these feelings of romance without being overly “cutesy”. Pick a few of your favourite images from the story (rose petals from beauty and the beast, apples from snow white, playing cards from Alice in Wonderland) and use them throughout your decor for a subtle but romantic theme.

2) Seaside Paradise

Beach weddings are not for everyone – you may live too far away from the shore, the weather may not cooperate, and the laid-back feel may not be what you want for your big day. Just because you don’t want to go to the beach doesn’t mean you can’t bring the best parts of the shore to you! Easy ways to bring some of the seaside feel to your wedding decor include: small vials of sand, collections of seashells, old glass bottles, and seaglass.

3) Library

Do you and your fiancé love books almost as much as you love each other? A library-themed wedding might be the perfect fit for you! This theme offers a lot of opportunity for creative ideas – what about invites that look like library return cards? books as centrepieces? a place for guests to suggest their favourite books? The options are endless here, and will all work together to keep your wedding looking classy – after all, books will always look classic and timeless. One thing to keep in mind if you go with this theme – you might have to reassure guests that it’s okay to speak above a whisper!

4) Board Game

If you are more of a laid-back couple, consider a board game wedding. This theme offers the chance to have all sorts of fun decor choices – classic games have a wealth of decor options. Consider favourites such as Clue, Monopoly, Uno and Scrabble when decorating – all of these choices have a lot of fun pieces and concepts that can be easily worked into your decor, desserts, and favours! Even better, having a board game or two at each table of your reception gives guests something to do and some excellent conversation starters – just try and keep the really competitive people away from your Monopoly set!

Your wedding theme is one of the key components of wedding planning – it brings all of the different components of your big day together. Feel free to go a little off-the-wall with your choice! After all, it’s your day, and you want the theme to reflect that!